July 5

I just posted last week, “trail life, not so rough after all.” Oh how naive I was. From Chester I did 14, 38, 38, 35, 35, 14 to get to Shasta for the 4th of July. It was hot. Really hot.

July 1st
I wake up at 4 am to a warm breeze that parches my mouth. I haven’t felt that warm morning breeze since the Mojave and I already know it’s going to be one of those days. I try to sleep a little more and get on the trail at 6 am.

I’m on the Hat Creek rim, there’s no water and no shade for 30 miles. By 8 am I’m sweating bullets. There’s cache water on the rim which helps immensely with the water carry. By 10 am I can feel the heat radiating off the ground. It’s inescapable and I’ve got 12 more hours to go. My water sits in my pack and soaks up sun for hours. It feels like drinking hot tea, it burns my throat. Hydrating makes me hotter.

I trudge along to get off the rim, 20 miles to shade, 15 miles to shade, 5 miles to shade. At 3 pm I sit under a tree and take a siesta. I dream of oceans. I wake up and feel like I’m back in the desert. Maybe I never left, the Sierra was just a dream, I’m still on that ridge climbing out of the Mojave. Snap out of it, get on the trail, keep moving. Find shade, find water.

It’s 104 degrees in Burney, the nearest town. At 8 pm, I’ve been going for 14 hours and I’m miserable. I want air conditioning, ice, lemonade, anything cold. This is my hardest day on the trail. I tell myself the bad days just make the good ones that much better.

I turn a corner in the middle of the hot forest and see beach umbrellas. What is this madness. The Wild Bird cache. Laws chairs, fully stocked cooler and pantry, stove, and… a freakin shower.

These wonderful folks set up a solar shower for us, for me. I’m so filthy. 14 hours of sweat, dust, and grime. I grab the coldest soda and jump in. It’s glorious. From such lows to such highs, of course I’m on the PCT. It couldn’t be any other way.

I’m clean, cool, fed, and happy. In good spirits, I crush the next 2 hours and get to Burney state park at 10 pm. It’s 85 degrees.

I’ve drunk 22 pounds of water today. 16 hours, 38 miles. Today was rough. The PCT kicked my ass today, I got wrecked. And then it picked me back up, just like that. Only 122 miles to Shasta. I crash happy, and sleep like a rock.

The next 4 days are still hot, but I’m under tree cover, so it’s not as bad. Shasta does a real 4th of July, so I’m happy I did the miles to get here.

We get to climb up to around 7000 feet the next few days which will help with the heat. Etna, Seiad Valley, Ashland soon!

andrew batjiaka

pacifc crest trail 2014

pct

June 29th
Chester/Chico Mile 1335

Most of NorCal is either a ridge walk or under tree cover. Some people find this section boring, but it’s quite peaceful. Apparently there are also a lot of mountain lions here… we can’t see them but they can certainly see us. There is still quite a bit of climbing as we go from the top of one ridge to a creek thousands of feet below and then to the top of the next ridge. Four days ago we had a 30 mile day with 8300 feet of climbing! More than my Mt. Whitney and Forester pass day!

There’s also quite a few town stops in NorCal. Sierra City, Bucks Lake, Belden, Chester (where I hitched from to get to Chico) all within a day or two of each other. Needless to say, I’m staying well fed.

We went to TWO trail angel houses, back to back. Two days out of Sierra City we find ourselves on Nancy William’s deck. We arrive after a short 14 mile day at 12:45 and she makes us cheeseburgers, gives us beer, s’mores, lasagna for dinner, huge breakfast. It felt like summer vacation. Not a worry in the world.

After that we do 25 miles to Belden where we stay at the Braatens in Little Haven where we all piled into the hiker cabin and pass out at 9. It’s been an easy week, that’s for sure.

We also hit the halfway marker in a little over two months. A bittersweet moment, so much has happened in two months, but I feel like we’re just starting.

NorCal ridge walking.

NorCal creek walking, we’ll drop 2500 feet to a creek, then climb up another 2500 feet to the next ridge.

Hitching into town.

The descent into Belden.

The halfway monument!

Caitlin reacting to trail hygiene stories. She came up to visit in Chico where we went to the Sierra Nevada brewery. Trail life, not so rough after all!

andrew batjiaka

pacifc crest trail 2014

pct